Last week, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, The Irish Times newspaper asked readers across the country to tweet their definition of Irishness. The title “Freckles, Fries and Philandering at Mass” says it all! Here is a reprint of the article:

Freckles, fries and philandering at Mass

Photo by Scott McDermott

Last week we asked readers to tweet their definition of Irishness. Here are a selection of edited “beingirishmeans” tweets, and the winner of our €200 prize.

#beingirishmeans calling all ATMs drinklinks – Michael Collins

#beingirishmeans having an Aunt Mary – Frankie Fitzgerald

#beingirishmeans you don’t have the foggiest idea of how to speak Irish – Raheen Jackson

Apparently #beingirishmeans accepting paying €36,000 each to bail out Anglo but despising #occupydamestreet for protesting about it – The Barbarian

#beingirishmeans the only Irish you can speak is “an bhfuil cead agam dul go dti an leithreas?” – Kain Devine

#beingirishmeans you owe more money than you could ever afford to repay without having borrowed it in the first place – Niamh Redmond

#beingirishmeans knowing Father Ted off by heart – Lorna mcGinley

#beingirishmeans You can say “Any craic?” to a policeman and you won’t get arrested – Niamh Manning

#beingirishmeans answering How are you? with How are you?. Foreigners never quite grasp that insist on saying how they are – Fiona McCann

Photo by Dan Noon

#beingirishmeans having freckles – Niall #beingirishmeans you’ve been greeted with “D’ya know who’s dead?” by your mother – Ellen Power

#beingirishmeans saying prayers in school daily, even though you’re athiest – Frankie Fitzgerald

#beingirishmeans enjoying a traditional Irish breakfast at any time of the day or night – Caroline Egan

#beingirishmeans nothing really. Other than buying into the view that there could possibly be an all-encompassing national stereotype – Cathal McQuaid

#beingirishmeans Being accused of being “D4” in a pub in London – Alan Duff

#beingirishmeans getting travel directions that consist of pub names, churches and roundabouts – Beano

#beingirishmeans watching the Late Late Toy Show every year regardless of your age – Diane H

#beingIrishmeans sympathy for fraudsters – Allan Cavanagh

#beingirishmeans that if Penneys ever closed, half the country would be naked – Gareth McGregor

#beingirishmeans we must persevere – Aidan O’Callaghan

#beingirishmeans every other nationality loves you. – sarah and grainne

#beingirishmeans everything to me!? – aCASTLEinFIRTHland

#beingirishmeans growing up thinking that olive oil was only used as a treatment for sore ears – Paul O’Kane

#beingirishmeans you complain about everything but never do anything about it – Adam Kane

#beingirishmeans going to Mass just to check out the talent – Charlotte Ryan

#BeingIrishmeans never having to say you’re sorry . . . oh wait no, that’s just the Government – Editor in Chic

#beingirishmeans our own words craic, banter, shift, feckin, cop on will ya, few naggins be grand, morto, skittin, jaysus, state of yer wan – zoey finn

#beingirishmeans throwing on the shorts and sunnies when it hits 17degrees cos u don’t know when it’s gona be sunny again – okee o keeffe

#beingirishmeans hating the winner of the €200 euro – marc synnott

#beingirishmeans having aunties that are actually “friends of the family” – ciara oneill

#beingirishmeans adj. (I·rish) 1. the ability to be your best when youre at your worst – Cathy Orr

#beingirishmeans knowing all the words to Fairytale of NY, never knowing a stranger (aren’t any), and not forgetting the green of Ireland – Pamela Boyd Shields

#beingirishmeans If there’s not some form of potatoes with it, then it is not a dinner – Linda Callaghan

#beingirishmeans you can mime the whole national anthem – Colm Keegan

#beingirishmeans at least one of your relatives holds political office – Sandra Purcell

#beingirishmeans Lying to everyone! Doctor: I’m fine thanks!. Priest: Nothing to confess. Garda: I wasn’t speeding. God: I believe in you! – Dermot Heaney

#beingirishmeans Great pride in our Nobel prize winning authors, but never reading their works – mell61

#beingirishmeans binge drinking you way into A&E on a Saturday night – Eleanor Tiernan

#beingirishmeans being in debt and indentured, till death and dentures us do part – brownbread mixtape

#beingirishmeans emigrating and suddenly developing an overblown grá for Guinness, hurling, the Irish language, U2 and Catholicism – David Mahon

#BeingIrishMeans It’s Paddy’s Day. Not Patty’s Day – Hugh Curran

Photo by Irish Fireside

#beingirishmeans that you most likely hate #eurovision but secretly watch the final every year – Ivor Connolly

#beingirishmeans you don’t wait for the lights to turn green when crossing the road – Johnny R

#beingirishmeans climbing Croagh Patrick just for the pints after – Pam

#BeingIrishmeans forcing children to play the tin whistle, or perform an Irish jig for all the relatives in the sitting room – Sarah Barrett

#beingirishmeans not actually living in Ireland. Sad truth! – laura masterson

In 2012, #beingirishmeans struggling to keep huge, lavishly-furnished houses. With no heat. – Mary O’Donnell

And the winner is . . .

#beingirishmeans emigrating because the country’s in tatters, and telling the world how much you miss it – Julia Cashman